Air-brake mechanism



3 Sheets-Sheep 1.

Patented Nov. 17, 1896.

,H .O.ZENKE.

' v awoewtoz M am attoznqa AIR BRAKE MEGHANISM.

(mi Model.)

-H,G.ZENKE.

AIR BRAKE MECHANISM.

No. 571,736; v

g mia 'IIJIIIIIIIIIIYA 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Now-17, 1896.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet a.

H. C. 'ZENKE. AIR BRAKE MECHANISM.

No. 571,736. Patented Nov. 17, 1896.

z-zzm/a,

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

nnnnv o'. ZEN-KE, or SANDY POINT, WASHINGTON.

AIR-BRAKE MECHANISM.

srnormca'rrou forming part of Letters Patent No. 571,736, datedNoveznber 17, 1896.

. A lication filed April 20, 1891. Renewed May 7, 1896. Sriel No.590,623; (No model.)

To all whont it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY (l. ZENKE, a

I citizen of the United "States of America, re-

siding at Sandy Point, Island county, State of Washington, have inventedand made new and useful Improvements in Air-Brake Mechanism forRailway-Cars and I do hereby declare'tha-t the following is a full,clear, and exact description and specification of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

I The object of my invention is't'o obviate former d ifficulty and toprovide devices which permit the use of air-pressure normally directlyfrom the main air-reservoir on the r brake-cylinder, so that the brakescan be applied with any degree of force by the engineer, and when neededor when a train airpipe breaks the air-pressure from what I call theauxiliary reservoir is brought in to use automatically to apply thebrakes, the air in said auxiliary reservoir being automat icalh suppliedfrom; the main reservoir -through suitable valve mechanism; in fact,

the train cannot start after a stop until the auxiliary reservoircontains the normal pressure, which may be altered to suit the grades,the. (The pressure generally in I use "with lvestyighouse isseventypounds to the square inch.

By my invention the engineer can use either i To this end my inventionconsists in'certain mechanism and combinations of devices fully setforth in and claimed at the end 01: this specification.

' In order-that persons skilled in the art may understand, construct,and use my invention,

, I will proceed to describe it, referring to the drawings, in which-Figure l is a side elevation. Fig. j2 is a top view or. plan. Fig. 3 isa vertical'ceutral section. Figsrel and 5 are also verticalcentralsections showing the. valve pistons in their-difi'erent extremepositions; Fig. 6 is a will of the engineer or conductor by the use.

its movements.

back or rear vie w of the valve-piston, looking from the right in thevarious figures. Fig. 7 is a vertical section of the same on line x a:of

Fig. 8, also looking from the right of thesheet. Fig: 8 is a plan of thevalve-piston. Fig. 9 represents a'cliagrammatic view of my invention asapplied to more than one car in train.

A is the valve-chamber. l3 isthe valve-piston. C is the pipe connectionfrom the valvechamber to supply air to the brake-cylinder.

D is the pipe connectionlto conduct air under pressure from the mainreservoir on the engine of the train on which the brakes are to beoperated.

D is thetrain-pipe leading from the reservoir on the engine (marked D tothe several cars brake apparatus. V

E .isthe pipe opening to the atmosphere from the valve-chamber. I

1 is the opening through the valve-piston, through which air isdischarged. from the brake-cylinder when the brakes are released,

which occurs when the valve-piston is in the position shown in'Fig.

G and G are recesses 1n the lower and upper ends of the valve-pistonthrough which air under pressure is admitted to pipe G from below orabove, according as the valvepiston stands,.as represented in Figs. 4 or5.

H is an aperture passing lengthwise through the valve-piston for thepurpose of conveying air under pressure from the main reservoir on theengine through the train-pipes and through pipe D to the valve-chamberabove the valve;piston.

, I'is an'enlargement of the lower end of this aperture H, into which avalve-seatis screwed, Emarked I a ball-valve rests upon the seat I,

marked 1 )and a coil-sprin gl'f -presses against the upper surface ofthis ball-valve and the top ot the recess I and holds the valve on itsseat.

air-pressure reservoir, (marked K.) I; u L is the valve piston-rod.

it extends upward. as shown, and-is surmounted by a piston L, which fitsand works upward and downward in the upper part of the valve-chamber andhas afixed relation to thevalve-piston in M is an extension of the rod Lupward.

N is a coil-spring, which surrounds rod M and bears upon the uppersurface of piston L, and against an adjustable screw-cap N for. thepurpose of regulating the tensionofthe spring N upon. the piston L.Screw-cap N p is screwed upon the upper end of the valvechamberextension, (marked N O is the yoke which guides the extension ofrod M,(marked M in its reciprocations back "Io and forth. This yoke isfastened by proper I screws to the external upper part of thevalvechamber extension, as shown. v

Operation: The operation of my invention is as follows: The connectionsbeing made between the valve-chamber Ath rough the main.

supply-pipe D and the usual train-pipes and through the pipe 0 to theusual brake-cylinder which operates the brake mechanism, also throughthe pipe J to the auxiliary safetyreservoir, 1he pressur'eis admitted bytheengin eer to the lower part of the valve-chamber A beneath thevalve-piston B, which pressure tends to force the 'piston B upward orforward until the'valve-piston reaches the position shown in Fig. 3 andbalances the pressure of the spring N (which is assumed to be sixtypounds to the square inch.) At the same time -the air-pressure lifts thevalve I in the pistonvalve B. and escapes into the space above the saidvalve-piston and into the auxiliary reservoir until the pressures belowand above the said piston-valve are equalized. The air in the auxiliaryreservoir cannot return through, the piston-valve agaiu,-because the 3 5ball-ValVe-'I prevents it. When the piston- ValVi. reaches the positionindicated as above, (shown in Fig. 3,) the exhaust-opening F- through'the piston-valve B is opposite the .pipe C and connects it thebrake-cylin- 40 der -'with theatmosphere through dischargepip'eE, andthe brakes arereleased. When the engineer desires to apply the brakesagain, he raises the pressure of the air in the upply-pipe D, (andconsequently in 5 the a i'xiliary reservoir,) beneath the pistonvalve,13, which, beinggreater than the resistance of the spring N,- forces thevpiston. upward or forward until thebottoin of said" p'is von-yalvereaches the pipe 0, when air- 53- pressure is admitted 'to thebrake-cylinder and. the brakes are thus applied. 'The distance to whichthe ,valve piston is moved forward is reg'ulatedby'the increase ofair:pressure in the pipe D-by the=engineer, audit 5 5- will be seen'thatthe, pressure in the brake.- c'ylinder can "be regulatedby' theengineerand the brakes applied, as. occasion requires, I by direct airpressure,from th'e'main" reser ,voir on the engine. It will also beperceived ,6o thatthe.pressurein the-chamber- -below and above thevalve;pistjon "and iuthe auxiliary reservoir is always thesanie, whilethebrakes areoperatedby air direct fromthem'ain res- -'ervoir,'on theengine.- ".Should ,-however; the "pressure in the main supply pipe D bere; ,duced below'the normal pressuraeitherb? design. or byaccident, thepressure of the spring N, acting on piston L, forces the piston-valvedownward or-backward until the valve reaches about the position shown inFig.- 5, and air-pressu re is thus admitted from the auxiliary reservoirthrough pipe 0 to the brake-cylinder, which applies the brakes au-x.tomatically,so that should any accident occur by which the train-pipesare severed from the engine the air from the auxiliary safetyreservoiris instantly and automatically brought into'use and the brakes areforcibly applied;

The valve-piston is returned to the positions shown in Figs. 3 or 4 bythe increase of pressure inthe train-pipe D and pipe D and to the baseof the valve-piston IE; to which the pipe D leads unobstructedly, whichpressure lifts the said valve-piston accordingly as the pressure isgraduated to resist the force of the spring N above said valve-pistonextension. There is sufficient space made he neath the base of thevalve-piston B to allow air to pass beneath the same from pipe D. 10

By means-of the screw-nut N the tension of the spring N against the regulator-pistiin L is varied at will and set to agree; with the 7 normalpressure of air to be used in operating valve-piston B by pressuredirect from the main reservoir on the-engine. The yoke 0 serves as aguide for the piston-rod M in its reciprocations, The rod M is madesquare or angular to prevent it from turning out of position ofadjustment.

'.lhe valve-seat I is screwed into its place after the spring I and theball-valve I are IOO - inserted.

The shape of the valve-ports maybe elliptical, rbund, or auy'otherconvenient shape.

. I prefer to make them rectangular, as is usual.

-l Iaving now fully described my invention and the specific manner inwhich I have embodied-it, what I claim as new, and desire to 1 Secure,by Letters Patent, is-

In an airbrake valve mechanism, the combination, consistingofthe valve-;chan1ber, provided with an inlet-port D, at :one end, the other endbeing pr'ovided'w-ith aspring adjusting device, and open to theatmosphere; port J located at a distance from port .D, leading toan auxi'ary reservoir, the port 0 located between ports D and J; the port E, asshown; and the valve-piston B, located and reciprocating in saidchamberB, between the :20

ports D and .Land providedwith port H,,and

its valve mechanism substantially as speci-- tied, and the-port orchannel 1!,1 arranged to connect ports 0, and E, as specifi ed; thespring M, located and acting as specified, all con- -1-25 structed,combined and arranged "tooperate substantially as and for the purposesspecified. g .IlENRYQ-ZENKE. \Yitnesses:

' I N. ANDERSON,

WM. PULVER

